


is this love, detective?

by theflyjar



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Confusion, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:43:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflyjar/pseuds/theflyjar
Summary: Yixing is convinced he's Lu Han's soulmate, but there's just one problem: Yixing's in love with Yifan.





	is this love, detective?

It’s rare for someone to have a soulmate now. It used to be common, with almost everyone managing to find their other half in the world, but now there’s a one-in-fifty chance of someone meeting their soulmate. Scientists speculate that it’s because of the drastic growth in the global population, that the probability of finding your soulmate has grown so slim that it’s been phased out by evolution. Others speculate that society dictates so much to people that souls are dying, fading away until all there is left to do is consume to fill the void souls have left. If there are no souls, there are no soulmates. Now, people do it by what’s appealing: scent, appearance, personality, rather than being guided by fate. They call each other the simple name of mates, too, showing a clear division between those bound together by fate and those who choose one another.

Divorce and the unbinding of bonds are statistics that only ever grow in this modern era, as are loneliness and depression. People do not believe in love, they do not seek it out in hopes of having a soulmate.

Yet, Yixing knows he’s one of the rare few when he, as an omega, hits the cusp of adulthood and an inky symbol of a dragon appears on his left ankle. It should be fearsome, but rather it’s frail and delicate in design, pristine and unbroken. Far gentler than what Yixing would expect from a mark like this, especially from a dragon.

The tales of soulmates, in times gone by, tell Yixing that when he meets his soulmate, the lines of his mark will be filled in with detail and colour.

However, Yixing’s already is. Reds, yellows, and blues sit boldly on his leg, bleeding and blending together to show a perfectly filled in design. They’re supposed to represent your soulmate, in personality and in love. Predators tend to symbolise alphas, protective and territorial. Prey animals tend to be omegas, gentle and adoring. Betas are animals that can be both, like fish and mud puddlings.

He doesn’t tell anyone about his ankle, too shocked and awed by it to let it slip. It would be national news, maybe even global, that a student from Changsha has discovered the impossible on his leg. There would be a widespread search to find him his soulmate, and Yixing worries at the idea of that. He has no idea if his soulmate would want to be found like that, if they don’t already have a life of their own and dreams to follow. Because Yixing knows he doesn’t want to be found.

Yixing’s already in love, enamoured by a boyfriend who would run to the ends of the earth for him. Yixing doesn’t want a soulmate because he doesn’t want to lose Yifan, the person he’s sure he’s supposed to be with.

There’s a fear in Yixing’s chest that is actually only calmed by the fact that, given his mark’s colouring, he has already met his soulmate. If it changes with exposure to them through time, Yixing has already spent hours, maybe days, with them around him and his heart still chose Yifan.

He hides the mark under socks, even going to a makeup counter to find his perfect shade of concealer to hide it away. He ignores that it’s there, pretends that it doesn’t exist, and no one knows anything different. It’s easy to go on like that, especially when Yifan’s there, causing fluttering in Yixing’s chest until all he can do is want to be close to his boyfriend.

Months down the line, Yixing loves Yifan no less, nor does he love anyone else more.

Everything is perfect, pristine in the world, until Lu Han barges into Yixing’s bedroom yelling:

            _“I have a soulmate mark and it’s already coloured in. Who the fuck is my soulmate?”_

###

 

Lu Han’s hysterical, yelling and screaming frantically that somewhere around him is his soulmate. Yixing tries to quiet him, covering his mouth to not draw attention to them in the dorm building Yixing lives in.

“Keep quiet, someone might hear,” Yixing scolds and Lu Han tears himself away from Yixing’s hand.

“Good! Maybe then my soulmate will come out and not be such a coward about this. It’s clearly someone I spend enough time with, look! It has a complete spectrum in it. I know this person and they have to know who I am.”

Yixing blinks when Lu Han pulls up his sleeve to show a cat marking, grey and brown and fluffy, staring back up at him. Yixing frowns, he couldn’t ever imagine himself being symbolised as a cat, not as an omega, at least. But this cat looks docile and timid, wide-eyed in its repose, and Yixing wonders if this could be a modern manifestation.

All forms of gender are blurred more and more in their society. Omegas work full-time jobs, even after childbirth, alphas are more conscious and expressive of emotions, and less betas go through life in shame of not living up to pre-set ideals. The marks could work like that, too, with the expanded understanding of life.

The idea makes Yixing feel sick to his stomach.

He loves Lu Han, but he does not _love_ Lu Han.

Lu Han goes about pacing around his room, muttering about needing to find out which person in his life is his soulmate and how to get to know if they have their mark, too. Yixing sits himself down on his bed, trying not to panic with his fingers curled into the comforter. There’s a cramping sensation in his chest, as if someone is grabbing his heart and squeezing it until it hurts.

The only thing that distracts him is his phone buzzing on the table beside his bed. He glances over to it, guessing whether or not he should ignore it. He reaches out to pick it up, though, when he sees Yifan’s face and name lit up on the screen.

 _“Hey, little bunny, are you okay?”_ Yifan asks as soon as Yixing answers.

Yixing gulps uneasily around a lump in his throat, and uses his clearest voice to say, “Yeah, why?”

_“I just had a feeling you weren’t, so I thought I’d call to check in and just make sure.”_

“Yeah, everything’s fine, I’m just with Lu Han… He’s got some news I think he’d want to share with you.”

_“Did that Korean alpha finally file a lawsuit against him for being so weird?”_

“No, Minseok did not do that. Not yet.” At the mention of Minseok, Lu Han perks up a little. Smiling at the mere mention

_“A shame… I’d have run in the other direction if Lu Han ever made it his life’s goal to barge his way into my life. But I’ll be over in a few hours, I just got back from work and I want to shower. He can tell me whatever then.”_

Yixing sighs, fingers curling around his phone, ache returning to his chest. He doesn’t want Yifan to be clear across campus, far enough away in the alpha dorms. Yixing wants Yifan close to find some kind of sanity again “Are you sure you can’t shower here?”

It’s a whine and Yifan doesn’t laugh at it like he usually does, instead he goes a little bit quiet. _“Are you sure you’re okay?”_

“Yeah, just come over soon.”

_“I will, I promise. I’ll hurry up and try to get there in half an hour, okay? I love you, little bunny.”_

“See you in a bit. I love you, too.”

Yifan makes an obnoxious kissing sound before he hangs up and Yixing feels himself smile, rolling his eyes.

When Yifan does roll in through the door, Yixing’s laid across his bed and Lu Han’s taken over a large proportion of the floor, mapping out every single person in his life to try and decipher who his soulmate could be.

“What’s with the, uh, paper explosion?” Yifan snorts, gesturing to the mess Lu Han has created, trying his best to avoid stepping on any of the sheets. He makes his way to Yixing, using the bare parts of flooring as stepping stones, before crawling onto Yixing’s bed to lay beside him.

“I have a soulmate mark!” Lu Han announces, brandishing his wrist around before Yifan leans over to catch it with one hand and inspecting it for himself. “How cool is that? I never even thought _I_ would get one. I thought they were only in films now, but I’m walking proof.”

Yixing expects Yifan, the eternal romantic and champion of true love, to react differently to how he does. He lets out no exclamations like Lu Han does. In fact, he goes a little pale as he runs his finger over the design.

“A predator? An alpha, huh?” Yifan mutters as he stares at it for longer.

“That’s what I thought, too. But then Xing made a great point, that marks may have changed with the times. This cat doesn’t look all that threatening, and we guessed that this could maybe represent a modern-day person.”

“So, you think this cat could be any of the classifications? Alpha, beta, _or_ omega?”

“Exactly. Which leads me to a large pool of options, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to around fifty people.” Lu Han begins to lift up a paper he’s written on each candidate, listing them off to Yifan, talking about all the ways they could relate to the cat symbol and how much time Lu Han has spent with them before. When Yifan poses a question about why Lu Han hasn’t considered him or Yixing as his soulmate, Yixing sits up uneasily to look at Yifan, who turns to him in surprise that he moved away.

Lu Han doesn’t even glance up when he responds with: “You two were the first ones crossed off the list. You’re disgustingly in love with each other, there’s no way either of you could be my soulmate. So, I’m in soulmate detective mode to solve this.”

Yixing’s mind, however, is thrown into disarray.

Yifan’s hesitance to celebrate and wondering if he or Yixing could be Lu Han’s soulmate throws Yixing into a state of inward panic again. He had just calmed down, immersed himself in quiet as Lu Han began searching through all his social media to look at friends and friends of friends. But something about what Yifan’s said, Yixing feels like Yifan _knows_ about his mark.

“Is everything alright, little bunny?” Yifan’s voice is gentle and muted, filled with so much love and care that Yixing just wants to cry.

He dreads the idea of Yifan thinking that he could be Lu Han’s soulmate, just as much as he dreads it himself. Yixing knows he has to quash those fears down, not wanting to worry Yifan and hating the idea of him ruining Lu Han’s special day. So, he smiles and placates them both when they draw nearer, settling back down against Yifan.

Neither of them pushes for an answer, but Yifan does keep Yixing close to him, drawing absentminded images on the flesh of Yixing’s back as Lu Han tries to decide who his mate could be.

Before long, Yixing’s roommates start returning and Lu Han is banished by Zitao, Yixing’s bunkmate, who complains about the amount of mess Lu Han has created in a dorm that’s not his own. Yifan’s allowed to stay, as he’s won the trust and affections of the omegas Yixing shares a dorm with. Zitao sits on Yixing’s bed with them for a while whilst they stream a film, telling Yixing about his day as Yixing plays with his hair.

Yixing imagines how Tao would react to finding out he has a soulmate. He thinks Tao would be overcome with emotions, letting them run riot each time he thinks about finding his other half. Tao’s pure and raw, loving with his whole heart and not quite used to keeping his feelings in check, often getting into tricky situations with alphas who don’t like being pushed. Still, Yixing thinks that’s what discovering a soulmate should be about, not Yixing’s pleading ignorance or Lu Han’s meticulous evaluating. Just emotions, unrestrained.

Yet, with Yifan’s heart beat under his ear, Yixing wonders what Yifan would think, how he would react to the sight of Yixing’s soulmate mark, and whether it would change anything between them. Thinking of that, Yixing knows he’ll continue to keep his secret to himself, to protect both his and Yifan’s hearts.

 

###

 

Lu Han finds no solution to his problem after months of asking everyone on his _‘possible’_ list if they also have a soulmate mark. His questions have drawn attention, too. There are posters up around the university and Lu Han relishes in his status as a local celebrity as the local newspaper print about him. But, in private, Yixing sees the way Lu Han falters. He wonders why his soulmate hasn’t come forward, he wonders why on earth they’d want to ignore the clear sign that they belong together. Lu Han’s _‘soulmate detective’_ mode slips into one of desperation, even going as far as to ask the professors of his regular lectures and the canteen workers. Only to be rejected, over and over again. Guilt eats Yixing up, whenever Lu Han talks about it, especially if Yifan’s there, fussing over Yixing and adoring him like they are soulmates.

On top of that, Yixing’s been getting the feeling that Yifan will want to give him a bitten mark soon, if the way he kisses and touches the place where the indentation of his teeth would scar over is anything to go by. And Yixing wants that more than anything, to share that ultimate symbol of love they can forge together, but he can’t bring himself to say a single word about it. Not when there’s the risk of Lu Han being hurt in the process.

Yixing doesn’t know what to do.

The two people he would ever talk about this with are the ones he could hurt the most. If he tells Lu Han that it’s most likely that they’re destined to be together, but that he can’t bring himself to leave Yifan because he loves him too much. Then, if he tells Yifan, he knows Yifan would feel just as guilty as Yixing to starve Lu Han of the chance to be with his soulmate.

Whenever Yixing thinks about it too hard, he always gets some kind of question from Yifan, seeking reassurance that everything is okay. It makes Yixing paranoid, worried that he’s being obvious with his anxieties, but Yifan never grows restless with him whenever Yixing plies him with assurances that everything is completely fine. Still, Yixing’s aware that doing that hurts Yifan. Something within himself tells him that each denial of a problem makes Yifan feel a little more insecure, and Yixing feels it so strongly that he could almost fool himself into thinking they are his own emotions.

Getting that response from Yifan and the pressurised liability of possibly being Lu Han’s soulmate drives Yixing to breaking point. One night, in Yifan’s dorm room, when it’s only the two of them, Yixing paces along the flooring as he waits for Yifan to return back from his shower. Each step is accompanied by encouraging words to himself, reminders that Yifan loves him and would support him no matter what.

Yifan returns, towel wrapped around his waist, and his eyes fixed on Yixing.

If it was any other moment, Yixing would have drawn Yifan in for a kiss, to show his appreciation of the sight of Yifan in just a towel. But, instead, it makes him feel embarrassed. He doesn’t want to have this conversation with Yifan when he’s practically naked. Instead, he ushers Yifan towards the clothes he set out before his shower and he puts them on.

“I know I ask this a lot, but are things okay? With you? With us?” Yifan has track pants on and a shirt in his hands. It’s not much better than a towel, but Yixing thinks it’ll have to do, given that Yifan’s the one that’s broached the subject first.

“I, uh, I don’t know,” Yixing finally lets out.

Yifan’s eyes widen and a sudden pain tears through his chest, it runs in tandem with the way Yifan’s expression and posture falls. “Things aren’t okay with us?”

“No! Things are fine with us, but I _need_ to tell you something, okay? You just can’t freak out.”

Yifan stands there, just staring at Yixing, that pain still there and Yixing decides it’s better to just show Yifan the dragon on his ankle. When Yixing lifts the bottom of his jeans up and pulls the tops of his socks down, Yifan leans in to investigate. The pain Yixing feels shifts to something that almost feels yellow, like confusion.

“I think I’m Lu Han’s soulmate,” Yixing whispers, expecting that sensation within himself to flip back to pain but it doesn’t. It simply descends deeper into that baffled state.

“Why would you think you’re Lu Han’s soulmate? How did you even get to that conclusion with that on your leg?”

“He’s got a mark and so have I, Yifan. _And,_ he can’t find his soulmate. I think it’s me.”

“But would it be you?” The confusion intensifies.

“Why aren’t you even shocked by this? I just showed you this and you’re not even surprised… Not even when I say I think I’m Lu Han’s soulmate.”

“Yixing, we share a bed most nights, of course I’ve seen your mark…? Wait, does that mean you haven’t seen mine?” Yifan tugs the tapered hem of his sweatpants up and on his ankle sits a beautiful, little black rabbit. Right there, on Yifan’s leg, a bunny, in exactly the same place as Yixing’s dragon sits.

“You have a soulmate mark?!” Yixing exclaims, rushing to get a closer look at it. It’s so vibrant and perfectly formed that Yixing knows it isn’t a tattoo, it’s a genuine mark. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t think I needed to. When I got mine, I looked for yours and saw the dragon, which I knew was me because more colour appeared when I touched it. Then, I assumed you saw mine, too. Yixing, we’re soulmates, how couldn’t you know that?”

“I don’t know, I never thought to look at your leg.”

“Why wouldn’t you look at your boyfriend’s leg when you find out you have a soulmate?” Yifan isn’t angry, he’s got a smile plastered across his lips and it only makes Yixing feel a little stupid. That feeling doesn’t settle for long before Yifan pulls him into a hug, bowing down slightly to kiss Yixing’s forehead.

“Doing that didn’t even cross my mind,” Yixing admits, “I thought you would have told me if you had one.”

“But wait, how you’ve been feeling recently has been anxiety over this situation with Lu Han?” Yixing nods his head, pouting a little. “Xing, his mark is a predator, why would it ever be you? And a cat, too. No one has ever thought you’d be a cat. I literally call you bunny all the time.”

“Do you know how scared I was when you asked him why he didn’t think it would ever be us? I thought you knew something I didn’t… And, I mean, you did, but not what I thought.”

“I asked him that to see if you’d told him about our soulmate marks, since it’s rare as it is. It was weird to me that he had one and it was weird that you didn’t say anything about having one to him. Though, I guess it makes sense now, why you didn’t.”

“I’m an idiot,” Yixing sighs, wrapping his arms around Yifan’s waist, feeling him close and relaxing there properly for the first time since he saw his mark.

Yifan laughs a little, “You are, but I wouldn’t have you any other way. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

 

###

 

Lu Han parades Minseok in front of Yifan and Yixing in the omega dorm’s common room, where Yixing’s sat on Yifan’s lap to play a game on Yifan’s phone together. It’s the unusual scent of another alpha being in the vicinity that draws their attention to Lu Han and his guest, and Minseok moves through uncertainly. Yixing thinks Lu Han has finally lost it and is trying to kidnap the poor exchange student.

“I think that restraining order will be coming soon,” Yifan snorts almost silently next to Yixing’s ear.

Part of Yixing agrees, if the fearful look on Minseok’s face is any indicator.

However, Lu Han yanks up Minseok’s sleeve, exclaiming, “See look! A deer, a soulmate mark! Just like mine but a deer!”

Yifan pauses the game for them to inspect the deer that surely is there on Minseok’s arm, and Yixing squints at Minseok. He can understand the feline connotation and Minseok certainly is an alpha, and Yixing feels himself ginning.

“I’m happy for you both,” he chimes, knowing he should get up and embrace Lu Han on his discovery, but Yixing’s so comfortable in Yifan’s arms that it wouldn’t feel worth it to leave them. “How didn’t you know it was him earlier?”

“Well, apparently, Minseokkie here didn’t know the characters for soulmate, so he never really understood the posters we put up around uni. Then, today, I was taking my watch off to play some football and he caught my wrist. I thought he was finally going to tell me I was annoying him, like Yifan always says he will. But, no. He showed me his arm, too, and now look at us.”

Lu Han turns away from Yifan and Yixing, taking Minseok’s hands into his hands, and Yixing wonders if he and Yifan have ever looked that grossly in love with one another.

“So, is this love, detective?” Yifan questions, breath skimming past Yixing’s neck, right where Yifan’s bitten mark has made its home, and Yixing can feel how Yifan’s smiling, pressed up against his back. It’s painfully clear that their response would be redundant, anyone looking at them could see that.

Still, Lu Han lets out the most revolting of dreamy sighs, staring at Minseok with adoration widened eyes. “Definitely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
